Uluru - Places to See

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This was published 15 years ago

Uluru - Places to See

Climbing The Rock

The decision to walk to the top of the rock is one which should be based on fitness (it really is only suitable for healthy people) and your level of respect for the Aboriginal notion that this is a sacred site. The traditional owners have resigned themselves to the inevitable despoliation of the rock. You have to decide if you want to be part of that despoliation. There are now signs around the rock which make it perfectly clear that the traditional owners, the Anangu people, would like the 400,000 visitors to the rock to 'respect our law by not climbing Uluru'.

It is worth noting that the average tourist stays at Uluru for 1.6 days, only 10% of all tourists actually climb the rock, and the number of people who have died from heart attacks as a result of climbing the rock is now quite substantial. A lot of people die some days later and consequently are never part of the statistics for heart attacks on the rock. The current estimate is that, on average, one person per month dies either directly (quite a number wander too far and fall off the edges) or indirectly as a result of climbing the rock.

The poet Rex Ingamells captured the mystery the rock holds to all who see it when he wrote 'It remains for individual discovery so long as the human mind retains its capacity for wonder.'

Maruku Arts and Crafts Complex
One of the most interesting 'traditional' activities in the area is the Maruku Arts and Crafts Complex behind the ranger's station near the base of Uluru. Here there is a fine exhibition of Western Desert artifacts as well as a good range of local art works for sale.

The caves around the base of the rock abound with hundreds of paintings which depict Aboriginal life. These paintings were still being done as recently as the 1930s. The technique was to make a brush from the chewed end of a piece of bark and to paint the predominantly abstract designs with a combination of red and yellow ochre, charcoal and white pipe clay. The caves to the left of the car park have quite a lot of interesting paintings and can be reached by an easy ten minute walk around the base of the rock.

Kata Tjuta
To the north of Uluru lie the 36 smaller monoliths known as Kata Tjuta (The Olgas). The highest of the monoliths is Mount Olga which rises to 546 metres. The Olgas are spread across an area of some 3500 hectares and the distance around the group is approximately 22 km. It is thought that Kata Tjuta may have once been one gigantic monolith many times the size of Uluru. Millions of years of erosion have reduced the single monolith to a series of smaller monoliths.

Ernest Giles, who named The Olgas, was to write of them: 'Mount Olga is the more wonderful and grotesque; Mount Ayers the more ancient and sublime.'

Yulara
The one strength of Yulara is the Information Centre which has large displays which are simple, easy to understand and comprehensive. It is a good overview of the area and an ideal starting point.

The best time to see Uluru is at sunrise. At sunset, the more convenient time, there are literally hundreds of people all jockeying for position in the sunset viewing area.

If you have your own transport there is no reason why you have to join the crowds. Choose a suitable sand dune within a few kilometres of the rock, climb it and enjoy the spectacle of sunset on the rock as well as the glow of evening over Kata Tjuta.


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